Sunday, June 26, 2011

Little girls are for grandmothers to fuss over

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Penny.

Her mother was something of a perfectionist when it came to her children's clothes.

When Penny was about 8 store bought dresses would not do. She was "too tall for an 8 and too small for a 10."

Penny's mother ironed her hair ribbons and sending her only daughter off to school in a dress that didn't "fit" was unthinkable !

Back in those days little girls wore dresses to school. Socks with shoes. Not jeans or t-shirts with rubbery depictions of Disney princesses on them. Little girls were groomed just as neatly as their mothers who wore gloves and hats on shopping excursions " downtown."

A neighbor lady named Mrs. Nelson agreed to sew for Penny and the result was a set of very pretty dresses, one of which has survived the passing of 52 years. Think about that for a minute.

More than half a century!

Penny grew up. Now she has 9 grandchildren. FIVE beautiful granddaughters!

Here is my beloved oldest granddaughter. Eva Rose. Wearing my dress.

I could cry.

I have 3 dress pattern envelopes from that era and have enlisted my sister-in-law to make another dress as similar as possible to a pale sage green one I loved especially.

Each granddaughter in turn will wear it, have her photo made in it - and I will cry at the sight of each one.

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Sunday, June 12, 2011

In lieu of flowers...

Fourteen-year-old Sketchy Meow Dollahon shuffled off this mortal coil early Friday morning.

His glossy black coat had become reddish - so that's how black cats go "grey."

He had lost part of his lip in a backyard fight which resulted in an Elvis sneer, had a ravenous appetite (until recent days) and was a prolific producer of hair balls.

Sketchy was known to the grandchildren as "the nice kitty", as opposed to "the mean kitty", Colette. This was not based so much on measurably nice behavior - Sketchy mostly just sat immobile and looked at you - while Colette strikes horror in the tender heart of each grandchild by the time they are mobile enough to experiance a Collette confrontation.

Sketchy's relentless bawling to get into the house when out or to get out of the house when in - will be missed.

His impressive talents for producing hair balls no one would discover for weeks - having fossilized under the dining room table or behind an armchair ~ and then alternately offering moist wet ones on kitchen countertop, seats of chairs and on papers you wanted to keep - will not be forgotten.

Sketchy was preceded in death by a few days by his actual sibling, Spanky Dollahon, also of Houston.

Companion survivor Collette (aka the MEAN kitty) was consoled with an extra scoop of Tender Vittles. She then vanished to take a nap and could not be reached for comment.

In lieu of flowers, cash or money order donations can be made to assuage the intense grief of Sketchy's caregivers.